Michael Roll reveals why he took time off basketball, comments on Thomas Heurtel's case / News - Basketnews.com

Michael Roll shares with BasketNews the latest updates on his life and career plans, while also looking back at his 4-year EuroLeague trajectory and his relationship with Tunisia NT.

Credit: FIBA Media Credit FIBA Media

Michael Roll's last official game to date was with the Tunisian national team against the Republic of Congo for the 2023 FIBA World Cup African Qualifiers.

Michael Roll

Position:SFAge:35Height:198 cmWeight:92 kgBirth place:United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

Tunisia won 57-45, and Roll recorded 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. The calendar read August 28, and Tunisia wrapped up their second FIBA window with a sinister 1-2 record that leaves the 2021 African champs little hope for another World Cup participation.

Four months on, Roll is out of sight - and out of mind, some would add. His name wasn't included in any summer reports, nor was it brought up at a time when (mostly) EuroLeague teams were looking to make some last-minute additions.

Even if someone tried to find out what Roll could be up to, the information was so scarce that it could hardly make them any wiser.

Roll, 35, finished last season with Pinar Karsiyaka in Turkey before devoting himself completely to Tunisia, for which he's been playing since 2015 as a naturalized player. The fact that he's not playing anywhere doesn't mean he's cut off from basketball.

When BasketNews reached out to him, the experienced guard/forward was willing to share some updates on his whereabouts.

"I'm in California. That's where I'm from. I just had a baby girl a couple of months ago. That's consuming most of my time. I'm headed to Denver to broadcast a college basketball game right now," he said over the phone.

After 12 seasons of professional basketball in Europe, Roll is slowly getting accustomed to a new routine that includes fewer games and a different capacity. He's not a player trying to put his basketball knowledge and skills to the court but a commentator who shares his opinion with the public.

Points this season

41%68,9Points made:68,9Accuracy:41,1%Place in standings:18Record max:83Record min:51Best scorer:Nazareth Mitrou-LongTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Roll admits he didn't have any previous experience in broadcasting - at least not officially. However, he did some pre-game stuff with Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he played between 2017 and 2019.

"It was a pre-game media session where I introduced every player to the fans. Last year, I did some EuroLeague watch along with Anthony Goods. So, when the offer came, I didn't think twice about it. I had fun doing it for the EuroLeague, and I thought about where my next step was."

Taking that next step doesn't mean Roll is through with playing pro basketball. It means he decided to take half a season off to take care of his 2.5-year-old son and 4-month-old daughter.

His new job involves constant traveling now that conference playoffs have started, and his schedule has gotten busier.

"My daughter being born was my focus, and I had never spent Christmas at home. Now that I'm broadcasting, I'm going to start to ramp up training again," he says.

Roll intends to play with the Tunisian national team in the coming FIBA Africa window in February. Overall, five African national teams will earn a spot in the FIBA World Cup scheduled to take place from August 25 to September 10, 2023 in Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

There are three more games left to play (vs. Egypt, Senegal, and Congo) in Cairo, but Tunisia's current 5-4 record seems daunting.

Winners of the last two editions of the African Championship, and regular participant in world-stage competitions in the last six years, Tunisia have become of the most successful basketball programs in Africa.

However, missing the train to next year's World Cup would be disappointing for a squad that qualified for the 2019 World Cup in China on the back of a 10-2 mark.

"I'm going to prepare 100% for this window, hoping we'll qualify for the World Cup this summer," Roll concurs.

The former EuroLeague player doesn't know where and when he'll play next. He doesn't even know if he's going to sign with a team before the window or right after.

"I want to wait for the college basketball season to finish so that I can broadcast some games. I've had some really good offers recently, and I was very close to signing with one of them. But I waited this long just to commentate these games," he adds.

Roll says he wants to wait for at least six weeks more.

"Right after the FIBA windows, when I'll finish broadcasting, that's when I want to sign. After February, I'll be available most likely," he points out.

Michael Roll was crowned AfroBasket champion, averaging 16.2 points and 5.2 assists in AfroBasket 2021. He scored 18 points (to go along with 9 assists) in a gold-medal game against Ivory Coast.

His basketball future is directly linked to Tunisia's success and progress. Roll says he wants to finish the 2022-23 campaign with a club. If Tunisia NT were to make the Olympics as the World Cup's higher-placed African team, his career could extend until 2024.

"I'm really excited about the World Cup. I'm really hoping that the window goes well. I had so much fun at the last one in China that I hope to go again this summer. Other than that, I'm not sure."

Roll is looking at his future realistically. He wants to play for a team that aspires to win titles, but he also acknowledges that his pool of choices will be significantly limited when he declares himself available.

"It will be so late in the season that you'll have to take what you can get," he concedes. "You can't wait around for too long because the season might be over. Obviously, I'd love to play at the highest level."

That's where Roll managed to climb his way to after spending seven years in Europe's mid-tier. He made his EuroLeague debut with Maccabi in 2017, when he was already 30.

"I was very ignorant of the situation in Europe," he reflects.

"I didn't know how European basketball was handled. EuroLeague teams are very difficult for newcomers. It's almost like a closed circle. There are only a few teams willing to take on rookies," he stresses.

Roll says it took him some years to figure out what he was aiming for and what he had to show.

Sacrificing for the greater good can benefit any team, but Roll thinks he overdid it. His 2016-17 season with Besiktas, who reached the Turkish league finals, was the one that propelled him to a higher level.

"I was just playing and not thinking about anything else. Once I started to realize the situation, I focused more on showcasing the talents that EuroLeague teams would like to see," he emphasizes.

Roll clarifies that it wasn't about playing more individually but "about asking the coach to allow me to play more pick-and-roll and show different shooting situations, and not what comes to me in the game."

In the summer of 2017, right after he signed with Maccabi, Ali Benzarti, president of the Tunisian Basketball Federation, said Roll wouldn't be eligible for the 2017 AfroBasket. The reason was the relationship between Israel and Tunisia.

"Michael had recently informed national coach Mario Palma of his next destination in the Turkish league before we discovered by surprise that he had signed a contract with an Israeli club," Benzarti specified during a briefing.

Credit FIBA Media

Roll didn't play in the tournament that Tunisia ended up hosting and winning, but the conflict was eventually settled - if such conflict ever took place.

"I don't know where all that came from," Roll reacts.

"I never spoke with anybody with the federation about them being upset or having a problem. I never had any bad meetings."

Roll maintains it was maybe the media running a story.

"I don't know who it was. I have an idea of who it was, but it doesn't matter. No issues came from it," he points out.

The naturalized Tunisian player says he spoke with coach Mario Palma before he signed with Maccabi.

"He said, 'Go for it!' and everybody in the federation is like family to me. When I go out to Tunisia, I go to their homes. There was no issue. Basketball is not politics," Roll continues.

Credit FIBA Media

In such cases, the relationship between national federations and players tends to be permanently broken.

Regardless of whether the incident really took place or not, one cannot escape making comparisons with what happened recently when players were ruled out from their national teams for choosing to play in Russia.

Most notably, Thomas Heurtel, who had signed a sworn statement to be eligible for France at EuroBasket. The veteran guard ended up signing with Zenit Saint Petersburg in a move that made the French federation furious.

Roll is clear about that kind of situation where a player needs to choose his employer, taking the wishes of others into account.

"I don't think a basketball federation should intervene in anybody's personal life like that," he firmly says.

"It's not like anybody going to play basketball anywhere is causing a stir politically. I don't think that should have happened. France chose to do that, and it's their business."

From 2017 through 2021, Michael Roll split his time between Maccabi and EA Emporio Armani Milan. The California-born swingman says he felt comfortable at both- and that's because of how coaches Neven Spahija and Ettore Messina treated him.

"I have to give both coaches huge praise," he acknowledges.

"First, Neven Spahija, for taking a chance on me. He was unbelievable. He put me in great situations, allowing me to showcase everything and help the team win. He let me do whatever I could to my maximum and focus on that.

Coach Messina is brilliant. He knew everything I could do."

Roll entered Milan when Messina took over in the summer of 2019. The Italian powerhouse was trying to build a winning culture after years of underachieving on all fronts, especially in the EuroLeague.

Roll confirms he had to turn down an offer from Panathinaikos to take the job in the fashion capital, where the four-time EuroLeague winner was waiting.

"The main thing was coach Messina," he maintains. "His whole pedigree winning EuroLeague trophies, coming from the NBA, and knowing the game so well on both sides of the ocean.

Americans in Europe have a different approach than Europeans. He bridged that understanding very well with the basketball culture he was able to bring. He knew about everything. I thought that was just fantastic."

Credit Pedro Salado/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Of course, Roll's case was a bit different. Having won back-to-back Israeli league titles with Maccabi and a vast European experience, he didn't have to go through a long adjustment process.

It's something that several players that Messina has brought to Milan over the past few years, like Shelvin Mack and Troy Daniels, have been subject to, but did little to help them get acclimated.

Roll thinks that no matter the age of the player, the first time they come to Europe is a huge adjustment.

"It's a different style of play. Fans and coaches want to see some things. It's not about going out and scoring points. For whatever reason, it doesn't work out for certain people," he comments.

In his second and final season with Milan, Roll averaged 4.2 points (43.5% 3PT), 1.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in 36 EuroLeague games. He wonthe Italian Super Cup in 2020 and the Italian Cup in 2021.

That season was one for the books as the team returned to the EuroLeague Final Four after a 29-year-long drought.

"I had so much fun, it was amazing! Making the Final Four after having a big playoff series with Bayern Munich was great," he recalls. "You couldn't ask for more. It was fun, every game was a battle."

Roll was a bit player on two of UCLA's NCAA Final Four teams but missed out on most of the 2008 season when his outside shooting might have provided that one extra element needed to push the Kevin Love team over the top.

When asked to compare his one and only EuroLeague Final Four with his college days, Roll chuckles.

"They're similar," he replies.

He's focusing more on the outcome than the process, which makes perfect sense.

"I didn't win the championship at either. But that's part of sports. Not everybody's a winner. Everybody aims for the championship, but only one wins it. That's what keeps you striving to keep improving."

Credit Claudio Grassi/Lapresse via ZUMA Press

As has been the case with many teams, Milan's attempt at defending their domestic title came up short with a sweeping 0-4 result in the finals against Virtus Bologna. For Roll, the glass is not even half-full, regardless.

"It's full," he contends. "It has happened before, but any team that loses in a Final Four - and especially the way we did with that Corey Higgins last-second shot after such a hard-fought battle, it weighs on a team's mind.

At that point, we were trying to recover. Bologna had been waiting for that time, preparing themselves for us, and it was unfortunate that we couldn't get it done."

Talking about unfortunate events, one thing Milan under coach Messina hasn't been able to achieve is consolidating themselves among the EuroLeague elite in terms of consistency.

In Roll's first season, the team started off the EuroLeague at 6-1 but suffered 8 losses in 9 games between January and March 2020. That was Messina's worst losing streak, only topped by this season's, which amounted to 9 straight losses.

"If I knew what went wrong, I'd be a great coach, right?" Roll asks a rhetorical question.

This season, Milan was 3-1 at the beginning. It took them several weeks to bounce back, not to mention that they're still winless at home.

"It's a combination of factors. A couple of bad bounces at specific times in the games have gone from wins to losses," Roll argues.

The veteran guard/forward thinks injuries have taken a toll on Milan.

"Shavon Shields is a killer on the court. When he goes down or isn't himself, it changes the whole team's dynamic. Then, you got Gigi Datome and Kevin Pangos going down. It gets worse and worse."

Roll remembers that Messina reacted to the sudden turn of the tables by approaching the situation like a business.

"He came to work every day, and after every loss, he started to pay more attention to other things we needed to work on."

Following his Milan days, Roll was attached to Karsiyaka in Turkey and the BCL. His season was solid (11.1 points, 3.9 assists, on 47.1% 3PT shooting), but an injury changed everything.

"It was a unique situation for me because I had surgery on my leg. I had never had that before, and I missed the heart of the BCL season," he laments.

Roll had to sit out the playoff series against Lenovo Tenerife, where Karsiyaka lost to the eventual champs.

"I felt I could have helped the team and made a difference. They were close to beating them. I know Karsiyaka spent a lot of money to try and win the BCL last year, but we were unable to do so," he concedes.

Roll says he didn't quite grasp what the club's management wanted to do in the summer and whether it was a temporary budget decrease or a reset.

The only reality is that almost the whole team changed. But whatever the case might have been, Roll had already in mind parting ways with the Turkish side.

"It was mutual. I knew I wanted to do the broadcasting this year, so I wasn't looking to re-sign any time at the beginning of the season. My daughter was born in August, and I knew I wasn't going to make training camp with any team."

Parenthood is a job in its own right.

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